University of Idaho President Chuck Staben approved all but one of the proposed policy changes that were voted on and passed at the last University Faculty Meeting Feb. 9.
Staben vetoed the proposed revision to the university”s policy on parenting leave, which Faculty Secretary Don Crowley said was intended to expand the policy to include domestic partners.
Staben
In his official response, Staben said faculty should be praised for their attempt to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court”s decision to grant the right to marry to same-sex couples, but the proposed revisions are unnecessary and too broad.
The Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges resulted in the requirement that states allow same-sex couples marital status, but not to recognize other relationships outside of marriage, according to Staben”s response. Marriage is the only recognized domestic legal union, including both same-sex and opposite-sex marriages.
Because of this, Staben said UI doesn”t need to change any language in its policies.
“The university already recognizes married same-sex couples as spouses,” he said in his statement.
He said the broadening of language would leave gaps in the policy. Potentially, people who assumed the role of a spouse without actually being married could be included.
In the response, he gave the example of couples who choose not to marry, or people in relationships who can”t get married because of “blood relationship or current marriage to another.” These are still not recognized as legal unions under the Idaho Constitution.
Staben approved multiple other proposed policy changes that were automatically passed at the University Faculty Meeting because there wasn”t a quorum. Among these were minor changes to the university catalogue, revisions to faculty evaluations, sabbatical leave and the Intellectual Property Policy.
Erin Bamer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ErinBamer